One of the most difficult things to measure in chess is progress. No matter how much you train at home, how confident you are or how many blitz games you win online it is the tournaments that will put a note on your efforts. As explained in several previous articles, improvement relies on many different qualities, not only on well-sharpened skills but also on a strong mind, capable of overcoming any difficult situation that may arise. It is hard to imagine that one can achieve success at a tournament without having previously worked hard in a consistent way.
Quite often after a serious amount of time of regular training sessions, some people still struggle to show better results at tournament practice. How is it possible, one may think, after studying so much to still perform poor and sometimes even worse than before training periodically? It can sound strange but this scenario is not rare at all. Chess is a complex game and the victory lies in many factors; some can be trained and others you only learn how to deal with when you grow a more mature mindset.
Time trouble is a common thing in chess practice. No matter how strong a player becomes, the difficulty of the game increases as time starts ticking low. For some players it is even a chronic defect; they always get in time trouble and then they become used to responding under time pressure.
That being said, it is not the case for the majority of people. Usually poor time management comes from poor decisions on earlier phases of the game.
The ability to calculate is crucial in every chess player’s journey to improvement. There’s no such thing as a completely positional game where no calculation is needed; no matter how calm and quiet things have been going, there’s always a moment where you’ll need to see more than your opponent.
It is common knowledge that the key to making progress in chess is the consistent and deep analysis of your own games. Once you have learned the most typical nuances of positional play and tactics, it is worth finding out what you miss in your own practice. It is necessary to try to get to the source of your mistakes and learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses.
Going serious at chess all by oneself is something truly admirable. It is unnecessary to say that chess is one of the most difficult things to master and every day it continues to become more difficult as the level of the players keeps rising. How to become better at chess? That is a difficult question with more than just one answer.
In this article, we want to shed some light on the aspect of the training process from scratch and onwards.
It is well known that tactics play a major role in the chess game. The ability to spot tactical motifs and hidden combinations is a must have for every chess players who wish to obtain notable results.
However, the vast majority of players does not shine because of their talent in spotting tactics; in fact, many are just average in this aspect. The reason for this may well be that it is an element of chess that hasn’t been trained properly or even not at all. There is the thought that tactical vision, or let’s say tactical style, is something innate; you either have it or you don’t.
Preparing for a game has become an important factor in today’s tournament practice. In times where the level of the average chess player has increased drastically, the pre-game preparation is considered a key step towards the desired outcome: the victory.
Of course, times have changed and nowadays this task is more difficult every day.
One of the questions we receive most often from our students is “when do I know when to play for an attack and when to stay quiet and follow the strategic path?”
The answer to this question is always contained in the position you have in front of you.
There is no rule that tells you when to do one or the other, but there are certain things in the position that usually point to the path you have to follow during your game.
Believe it or not, the title of this article is a frequent question among club players and aficionados. I’ve been asked this on several occasions while hanging out at the chess club. I couldn’t help but notice certain hopes for a “quick fix answer” as if there was a magic trick.
Well, obviously, there isn’t any shortcut to higher ELO rating. It takes general improvement, specific training and most importantly: constant learning. This means that you need to be always learning, not just train a week with a master to get a result. In one word, consistency.